Burgess Owens: “the Republican majority that came into power 3 years ago insisting that the Department of Education be abolished…”

“the Republican majority that came into power 3 years ago insisting that the Department of Education be abolished, eliminated, has no validity, no credibility in this discussion. This is another cynical ploy, cynical partisan ploy to destroy public education, public school education. These same advocates and sponsors of vouchers, I would like for them to tell me: In your district, have you gone to your own local school boards and proposed vouchers? What is their reaction? Do you have poor children in your districts? Most of you do. You get title I funds. They are spread all across the whole country so there are some poor children in your district. There are certainly middle-class families, who also send their children to private schools and would like to have the relief provided by funds vouchers. Have you discussed it with your school boards? And what is their reaction? Is it popular? Is this something you want to jam down only the throats of the African Americans in the inner cities and use them as guinea pigs in an experiment which has no validity in your own district? Do you know that all the States, in 1997, where legislation was introduced for vouchers, it did not pass, it failed. Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia; there were 24 States that introduced legislation for vouchers, and it did not pass in a single State. So is it the American people who want vouchers or is it something you want to impose from Washington?”